SpiralFrog and Universal Music Group Partner in Advertising-Supported Legal Music Download Service

A new online music company has announced that it would make a huge catalog of songs from the world's largest record company, the Universal Music Group, available for consumers to download free.

The company, called SpiralFrog, said its intention was to wean music fans, especially young people, away from illegal downloads and pirate music sites by offering a legitimate source that is supported by advertising instead of download fees.

SpiralFrog is the latest to offer a challenge to Apple Computer's hugely successful iTunes service, which allows consumers to download songs legally for 99 cents apiece, and its many smaller imitators. Though the venture is not the first to try a free, ad-supported approach, the backing of Universal, with millions of songs in its catalog from thousands of artists like B.B. King, Rory Block, Sam Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Eric Clapton, John Lee Hooker, John Mayall and many more, promises to give it instant credibility and scale.

A spokesman for Universal Music confirmed the agreement but declined further comment. SpiralFrog will launch in beta in late 2006.

A Year After Katrina, Music Rising Announces Aid To 2,000 Musicians And Launches The Music Rising Epiphone Guitar 
Music Rising, a campaign launched to replace musical instruments lost or destroyed in the Gulf Region hurricanes, announced that it has provided instruments and/or gear to over 2,000 professional musicians to date. Launched in November 2005 the campaign has provided aid to Gulf Coast musicians not only in the region but also in over 34 States from California to New York. To mark the one year anniversary of the Katrina disasters, Music Rising has announced that it will launch the sale of the Music Rising Epiphone guitar with all proceeds going to the charity.

The limited edition Music Rising Epiphone guitar will be sold exclusively through Musician's Friend (www.musiciansfriend.com) with all proceeds going directly to the Music Rising campaign. The Music Rising Epiphone Les Paul guitar features exclusive artwork and the campaign's slogan "Rebuilding the Gulf Region Note By Note."

Mick Jagger Uses Auto-Cue Machine For Lyric Reminders

Rolling Stone Mick Jagger has an auto-cue device onstage to make certain he doesn't forget the lyrics to songs he has been singing for up to 40 years. The veteran rocker, 63, rarely refers to the video screen but has it there as a security measure should he struggle to remember a certain lyric from the band's huge repertoire.

Two young filmmakers are turning their experience in Clarksdale into a feature film called, appropriately enough, "Clarksdale."

Emmy Award-winning actress Ruby Dee takes a break from filming a scene for the movie, “Clarksdale,”  at Delta Eye.

The movie stars Boris Kodjoe ("The Gospel," "Madea's Family Reunion") and Ryan Michelle Bathe ("Boston Legal"). Stage and screen star Ruby Dee and LaTanya Richardson Jackson (wife of Samuel L. Jackson) round out the cast.

The story was written by Christine Swanson, following the couple's visit to Clarksdale to take in the sights such as Ground Zero Blues Club and Madidi.
The venues, co-owned by Morgan Freeman, local attorney Bill Luckett and businessman Howard Stovall (Ground Zero Blues Club), are also featured in the film.

"The film is about a young couple on the road to discovering who they are as a couple and as a family," Christine Swanson said. "In Clarksdale, we have taken advantage of the touristy places and ended up at Madidi." Swanson said she chose to shoot the film in Clarksdale because the historic buildings "look like a (movie) set."

"It looks like something straight out of Hollywood," she said. "There's a lot of charm and natural beauty that you can't fake." Swanson said cooperation from business owners such as Luckett also helped her make the choice.

"Something like this would cost $5,000 to rent in Hollywood," she said, pointing towards Madidi. "As independent filmmakers, we just can't afford that." To show their appreciation, the Swansons featured local supporters as extras in the cast.

Luckett took time away from the courtroom to play "Man," a waiter at Madidi, who introduces them to artist Willie Earl Robinson. Robinson, a product of Coahoma County, is also featured in the film. "I've been in a lot of documentaries, but this is my first scripted role," Luckett said. "Morgan and I met them (the Swansons) at Madidi and kept in touch with them. They told me they'd be back and that they wanted to make a movie called 'Clarksdale.'"

Tom Nicholson, first assistant director, said he's been touched to meet the people while in Clarksdale."People look you in the eye and say hello," he said. "Every day, I'm astonished how nice people are here to total strangers. It's how people deserve to be treated."

The History of Paramount Records to Air on PBS

The history of Paramount Records will be featured on PBS’ History Detectives on or around September 4 in most places. Please check your local PBS listing for details.

The segment is called "Lost Musical Treasure." The description on the shows website describes the episode as follows: “A man in Port Washington, Wisconsin, who owns a pair of metal "masters" that were used to press shellac records in the 1920s and '30s has a hunch they could represent surviving fragments of a lost moment in American musical history.

 “The contributor’s great uncle was the master sound engineer for one of the more peculiar recording enterprises in the United States, Paramount Records. He worked for the Wisconsin Chair Company, which, among other things, manufactured phonograph cabinets. “The company’s salesmen were savvy to the broad spectrum of musical talent at the time and established a tandem recording label, ultimately bringing some of the best Blues artists from the Mississippi Delta to Wisconsin to record in the factory. “History Detectives travels to Wisconsin and New York to determine the significance of these metal masters and to explore how one company captured the regionally and culturally diverse music played around the nation in the 1920s and “30s." 

Dave Alvin Joins XM Satellite Radio To Host New American Roots Music Show Beginning Sept. 18

XM Satellite Radio announced that Grammy-award winning roots rock legend Dave Alvin will join its talent roster to host a music program exclusively for XM.

Dave Alvin’s XM show "9 Volt," named for his song dedicated to his transistor radio listening days "Plastic Silver 9 Volt Heart," will premiere the week of September 18 on XM’s Americana music channel X Country (XM 12). The show will be an hour-long exploration of American roots music, where Alvin will draw the music that has inspired his career of more than 26 years and 11 solo albums. Alvin will pay homage to all styles, including roots from the Blues to R&B to Folk to Roots Rock to Rockabilly and more.

Dave Alvin helped to kick-start the roots rock scene in the early 1980s with the band the Blasters and has since gone on to a career as a solo performer, songwriter, producer, and sideman that’s been as well respected as it is eclectic, contributing to nearly 100 recording projects.